42As regards the conditions under which that right must also be respected in proceedings seeking to ascertain whether an administrative offence has been committed, it must be pointed out that that right is intended to apply in the context of proceedings which may lead to the imposition of administrative sanctions of a criminal nature. Three criteria are relevant to assess whether penalties are criminal in nature. The first criterion is the legal classification of the offence under national law, the second is the intrinsic nature of the offence, and the third is the degree of severity of the penalty that the person concerned is liable to incur (judgment of 20 March 2018, Garlsson Real Estate and Others, C‑537/16, EU:C:2018:193, paragraph 28).
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